Sonia Ponka-Quadro Qusabi Shelving System

At Design Interviews

Interview with Sonia Ponka : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Sonia Ponka : I am amazed by scaffolding versatility, so I wanted to make furniture as flexible! .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Sonia Ponka : I wanted QQ system to be very easy to erect and reassemble. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Sonia Ponka : I would like to find better production methods to make it cheaper, and as a result more available for consumers. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Sonia Ponka : About 2-3 months, however there were changes in dimensions when I began to produce it. Actually I found out that the system is even more flexible that I had expected after I made the first prototype. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Sonia Ponka : I think that people get bored with the same piece of furniture or, for example, it does not physically fit in the new accommodation. So I really wanted to make a shelving system which can look different every reassembly. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Sonia Ponka : I would like to sell it to some big company like IKEA or MUJI, but I would like to participate in future design updates, because my design is customizable, and a lot of sub-products can be produced for QQ system - just like covers for I-phone (there is the main product, and there is a huge market of sub-production to personalize I-phones. Same thing can be done with QQ system) .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Sonia Ponka : My strange love to scaffolding, I guess :) .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Sonia Ponka : No, but I had a lot of support from my Professor and lab. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Sonia Ponka : Mostly young people, who often move from place to place, or like to rearrange their living space. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Sonia Ponka : There are no other shelving system with similar assembling principle that I know of. And I have been studying a lot of shelving systems for my PhD paper at Kyoto Institute of Technology. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Sonia Ponka : Quadro means 4 or square - it is a basic element and motive. Qusabi means wedge in japanese, and also it is the title for scaffolding system I have been mostly inspired by.
And well... It sounds good for my taste, especially shortened - QQ (kinda cute) .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Sonia Ponka : Mostly paper prototypes, because I needed to understand assembly methods more then anything else. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Sonia Ponka : Posts and wedges - the system itself. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Sonia Ponka : Manufacturers who made real size prototypes for me. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Sonia Ponka : It is easy to produce, however I think there are more advanced technologies to make it better quality and cheaper. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Sonia Ponka : Yes, I am a PhD research at Kyoto Institute of Technology. .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Sonia Ponka : The dimensions are very important. There were few mistakes done by manufacturers. A millimeter mistake makes any part useless. So they had to remake those parts exactly as I have been asked them to... .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Sonia Ponka : I don`t remember now. I think I just tried to upload my designs and forgot. But then there was a good preliminary results, so I decided to nominate my design. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Sonia Ponka : I think the competition between designers is huge now, especially when economics is not so good. So I have to work very hard to understand what`s missing on the market and then make this new product look beautiful and effortless. .